


I've got issues and one of them is how bad I need you

by inthedrift



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Female!Raleigh, Genderswap, M/M, always-a-girl!Raleigh, mostly - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-11
Updated: 2019-11-11
Packaged: 2021-01-28 21:49:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 20,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21399202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inthedrift/pseuds/inthedrift
Summary: Raleigh Becket was born a girl, but that doesn't really change much.Yancy Becket surviving Knifehead changed a lot more.
Relationships: Raleigh Becket/Chuck Hansen, Yancy Becket/Tendo Choi
Comments: 5
Kudos: 92





	1. Chapter 1

Raleigh woke up at the first sound of the alarm, she was out of her bunk in seconds and had already pulled her pants on, before Yancy had even lifted his head off the pillow. He looked about sleepily, and Raleigh bounded over to the edge of the bunk, drumming her hands against his mattress.

“Yancy, time to go, Category 3, biggest one yet, Code name: Knifehead.” 

Raleigh had always been the morning person compared to Yancy’s barely functional before midday. In fact, the siblings tended to complement each other in most ways. While Raleigh was reckless and excitable, cocky and impulsive, Yancy was mostly calm and collected, responsible and the ever polite grown-up when needed. 

That’s what helped make them great pilots, they played off each other’s strengths and covered for each other’s weaknesses.

He dragged himself upright and dropped off the top bunk, heading to get ready but not before turning to his younger sister.

“Remember kid, don’t get cocky”.

~~~~~

They got cocky, by the time Yancy realised it and the thought had bled across the handshake to Raleigh, it was too late. 

Knifehead was surging back out of the water and Yancy had moments to understand that it was going straight for them, straight for the conn-pod. 

He turned, wanting to tell Raleigh that it was going to be ok, that he loved her, but everything went dark.  
~~~~~  
Yancy woke to beeping alarms and bright white light. This wasn’t the first time he’d come to in medical, but this was the first time that he’d felt like he’d truly been squashed by a Kaiju, which considering the last thing he could remember that probably wasn’t far from the truth.

Doctor Andrews came in at that point, obviously alerted by the change in tone from the large variety of machines he was connected to. 

“Ranger Becket, welcome back.” 

Yancy stared at the doctor, taking a moment to process what he meant. 

“Back?”

“You died on us there, 4 minutes till someone on that boat managed to bring you back. Broke a fair few bones; right femur and ankle, most of your ribs on your left side are fractured and your collarbone has 14 pins in it. Aside from that, you’re doing well, there doesn't seem to be any neural damage so that's a blessing.”

The doctor was firm but not unkind and Yancy breathed deeply before an insistent panic came to the forefront of his mind.

“Raleigh?!” his voice was strained and barely audible. 

The doctor’s expression fell and softened slightly, “As far as we can tell she was still connected to you when you died, she managed to finish the Kaiju off on her own and somehow made it to shore, took her about 4 hours. That’s a long time to pilot injured, never mind alone.”

Yancy tried to push himself into an upright position but pain flared in the majority of his body at the attempt. 

“What does that mean?” his voice was barely level, Raleigh and he were all each other had, he didn’t want to think about what going through that had felt like.

“Well, physically she’s bruised, several cuts and scrapes, broken her left wrist, torn tendons in her shoulder and some fairly serious circuitry burns on her left side but aside from that she’s fine, physically.” 

Yancy barely suppressed a snarl, “Physically?”

The doctor took a deep breath, “She’s not woken up, it’s been 5 days. We’ve done brain scans and plenty of response tests, there doesn’t seem to be any severe damage, the biggest issues appears to be some swelling, likely contributing to the unconsciousness but other than that there doesn't seem to be any visible reasons apart from the sheer trauma she must have suffered. It’s basically a waiting game now.”

Yancy let out a deep breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding.

“Where is she?” 

The doctor looked concerned, “Ranger Becket it’s best that you’re not moved and your sister needs rest, this isn’t going to be a quick fix.” 

At that Yancy managed to push himself up into a sitting position, purposefully ignoring the masses of pain that surged through his body. 

“Like hell, I shouldn’t be moved, I need to see my sister and trust me I need to be there when she wakes up.” 

There was no ‘if’, Yancy couldn’t allow himself to consider an ‘if’.

“Ranger, it isn’t suitable, you both need time to heal.” 

Yancy was about to argue, about to scream this place down until someone would fucking listen to him. He was stopped by the calm and commanding voice of Stacker Pentecost. 

“Doctor, Ranger Becket is right, even if it could impede his healing he should be with his sister, she will need to see him when she wakes up or she may be lost to us all.” 

Yancy appreciated how Pentecost also said when not if and didn’t that just increase Yancy’s already vast amounts of respect for the guy.


	2. Chapter 2

It’d been 3 weeks. 

3 weeks since Yancy woke up. 

3 weeks where he’d been sat next to his little sister, who was in a coma and had shown no signs of waking up. 

That was until now.

Yancy was sat on his bed, that was as close as it could be to Raleigh’s without interfering with the machines she was attached to. She’d come off the ventilator two days after Yancy had woken up, but the sheer number of things she was attached to was still astronomical.

A sharp intake of breath came from his right, and when he turned to look, Raleigh’s eyes were open, and her good hand was clenched into a fist. 

Yancy immediately swung his legs over the side so he could attempt to make his way over to her bed. His right leg was in a cast up to his groin which wasn’t exactly conducive for moving at all, never mind quickly. 

Raleigh let out a pained whimper followed by the most heart-wrenching noise Yancy had ever heard.

“Yancy?” it was practically a sob, and Yancy threw all his effort into getting to his sister. 

He grabbed for her hand, “I’m here, Rals, I’m here, I’m ok, we’re ok.” 

She gripped back, but there was barely any strength in it. Her head turned to the side, her eyes searching but unfocused. 

“Yancy?” she was begging this time like she was pleading with some higher being for him to be there.

“I’m here, kid, it’s me, I’m here” he responded, tears falling down his cheeks. 

Raleigh’s eyes focused then, “Yancy,” she breathed, her voice barely a whisper, it lacked relief though, “Tu es en vie?”

Yancy leant back, taking his sister in, she looked frail and scared. She looked for all the world like a lost child and Yancy understood, the siblings had always reverted to French when they were scared when they felt less than capable of dealing with the world around them.

Their mother had always used her native language to comfort them, and most of their childhood had been spent flicking between the two languages, Yancy shouldn’t have been surprised. 

“Je vais bien.” He replied, squeezing her hand, and her whole body relaxed upon hearing those 3 words.

~~~~~

They didn’t try to remove Yancy from her side and left the siblings hands entwined while they carried out their tests. Raleigh was confused, that much was obvious. 

She wouldn’t communicate in English, and as much as that concerned the doctors it made sense to Yancy, she’d always been one for various defence mechanisms over the years this was just another one.

Luckily, Yancy didn’t have to try and translate as one of the doctors was French-Canadian, thank god, as he wasn’t sure he was able to figure out some of the most basic translations, never mind some of the more complex medical terms in French, when he was far more focused on his sister being ok.

The doctors eventually decided after having asked enough questions, the date, where she was, who she was, a few times Yancy was asked to corroborate facts and memories, showing that she hadn’t suffered any excessive brain damage. 

However, she couldn’t tell them anything from Yancy being ripped out of the conn-pod till she woke up now, and while concerning, the doctors said that it was probably a blessing for now.  
The medical staff left the siblings alone, not before helping Yancy back into bed, the fact that it was Raleigh’s was a slight source of contention, but the looks on both siblings faces told them not to push it.

Once they had left, Raleigh turned so her face was pressed against Yancy’s good shoulder and began to sob. Yancy wrapped his arms around her and just held her, it didn’t take him long to join her in tears.

The two of them wore themselves out, and Yancy woke sometime later with Raleigh’s head on his shoulder, tear marks still streaking her cheeks, but she was breathing steadily and seemed to be sleeping well, which was more than Yancy could have hoped for.

~~~~~

He was awake maybe 5 minutes before Pentecost came into the room. The man had said very little up to this point, merely coming by to check on the two of them, this time however he looked like he wasn’t going to let things lie. 

“Ranger, we have managed to salvage the recording from inside Gipsy’s conn-pod.” The marshal's voice was steady, stoic, but behind it Yancy could tell something was there, lingering, waiting to rear its head.

“Aside from the fact that the two of you disobeyed a direct order, you did manage to save 15 lives and take down the largest Kaiju we have seen, so I will not remove the two of your ranger statuses. However, you will be benched until we can determine if you have understood the need for obeying orders.” 

Yancy had the decency to look ashamed at that if they hadn’t disobeyed orders maybe he wouldn’t have actually died, and Raleigh wouldn’t be lying here with brains the consistency of baby food.

“However, the recording has revealed some rather unsettling facts.” 

At this, his voice grew concerned, and that threw Yancy more than the lack of a proper strip down from the Marshal. He’d never heard the older man be anything other than sure and in command, this was downright world-changing to him at this moment.

“What? What facts?” Yancy spoke quietly so as not to disturb the sleeping woman next to him. 

Pentecost took a deep and steadying breath, “The recording continued after you were torn out.” Yancy took a breath that matched the Marshal’s own. 

“Your sister wasn’t searching for the shore, that just happened to be where she ended up. She was searching for you, Yancy.” 

The Marshal never used their first names which proved just how much this information had shaken him. 

“How do you know?” Yancy’s voice quivered slightly.

“We have 2 hours of recording, Raleigh just screaming your name, she lost her voice near the end, it’s a miracle she didn’t do any permanent damage.” 

Yancy’s whole body shuddered at the thought and god, what if it had been him in that situation? He knows he wouldn’t have stopped searching until he couldn’t go on and Raleigh had always been far more stubborn than he was, and he knows she would have happily killed herself if it meant finding him and that hurt more. At his movement, Raleigh’s head was dislodged from his shoulder causing her to jolt awake.

Raleigh gasped on waking “Yancy?” 

He tried to steady his breathing before responding, “Je suis ici, Rals,” his voice wobbled slightly but immediately calmed his sister, who held onto him tighter. 

It took her a few moments before she turned her head to face the Marshal.

“Good to see you’re awake, Ranger Becket.” Pentecost’s tone was sincere, but Yancy felt Raleigh tense, preparing for the worst takedown of her life. 

Considering the doctors had diagnosed minor brain damage mere hours ago, Yancy knew things were going to be ok when Raleigh looked quizzically at the Marshal and tilted her head slightly as if she had no clue what the man had said. It took all of Yancy’s considerable training not to snort at the look that crossed the older man’s face. It was a mixture of concern and annoyance, and wouldn’t that just have delighted him under any other circumstances.

“I’ll leave you two to rest.” 

Yancy wasn’t convinced for a second that the Marshal believed Raleigh’s lie, but he wasn’t going to test them on it now, he wasn’t that stupid. 

“Ranger,” he said directing towards Yancy, “please inform me when your sister is able to speak with me.” 

At that Raleigh actual had to pass her snort off as a cough, but Pentecost had already turned around and left the room, so Yancy assumed she might live to see another day.

He pulled back from her to look her in the eye, “You must be feeling better if you’re happy to sign your own death warrant, kid.” 

Raleigh chuckled at that, “Wouldn’t be the first time, old man.” 

Yancy breathed the first true sigh of relief since coming back from the dead, if she could still be a brat and not give a shit how much trouble she got herself into, then they would get through this, just like everything else the Becket’s had gone through.


	3. Chapter 3

**MANILA**

Yancy knew that they were cocky, hell after that takedown they had every right to be. 

Herc Hansen, the legend that he was even said so, maybe not in so many words, but it was enough to give both Beckets a huge buzz.

When they were told they would be doing a three Jaeger drop, with none other than Horizon Brave and Lucky Seven, well Raleigh had actually squealed a little bit, she would deny it to her dying day, but Yancy was there, he heard it. Both siblings looked up to the Hansen’s and neither of them could help but admit they weren’t exactly hard on the eyes. So, when they were asked by the pair if they wanted to celebrate, they practically jumped at the chance.

Yancy should have realised that allowing his drift high, and newly turned 21-year-old sister, free reign in a local bar wasn’t going to end prettily. Except he didn’t. 

So when, after barely 2 hours out, he decided that taking Raleigh - who was hitting on her 7th target of the night, albeit badly, due to the sheer amount of giggling between words, which she would also deny – back to the Shatterdome was probably for the best.

They’d been housed in temporary bunks until the repairs on the Jaegers were complete, so when Yancy managed to drag Raleigh through the corridor to the quarters, who was making a considerable amount of noise, he wasn’t surprised to see the door opposite opening.

In the partially open doorway stood a, well Yancy had no other words than, kid, who couldn’t have been more than 16 or 17, looking pissed off and like he’d been dragged from something far more interesting than a slightly tipsy ranger, mostly carrying, his extremely drunk sibling towards bed.

Yancy took that moment to take a good look at the kid before his brain could catch up to his eyes, Raleigh was tugging his head towards her mouth by the earlobe and attempting to whisper – which was practically a shout. 

“That’s Baby Hansen.” The kid’s face darkened considerably. 

“Fuck off yeah, you try having stats like mine at 16.” 

Yancy sighed because that was it, the dialogue was opened, and Yancy knew his sisters’ type; cute, angry and generally far too cocky for their own good. She stumbled out of Yancy’s grip and headed towards the youngest Hansen. 

“Shit, no I’ve seen your stats they’re like majorly impressive.” 

Yancy resisted the urge to facepalm because Raleigh was trying to flirt with the kid, while she had the best part of half a bottle of vodka in her system, and that was the sloppiest wink he’d seen in his life.

And yet the kid blushed and began spluttering and well shit, yeah, that was kind of cute, and with that, he moved back into his quarters and shut the door in Raleigh’s face. If she hadn’t looked so pitiful in that minute Yancy would have laughed at her, instead he just gently directed her back to their quarters. He’d managed to get her seated on her bunk before she started rambling. 

“He was just so pretty,” Yancy tried his best to tune it out while attempting to remove her boots, “and he has dimples Yance, fucking dimples like that’s not fair.”

Yancy was in the process of tugging the second boot but looked up to glare at his sister, “Rals, he’s not even legal.”

She actually blew a raspberry at him at that, “He is, he’s 16, that’s legal in Australia.”

Yancy continued to glare at his sister. 

“One, that’s still 5 years. Two, how the fuck do you know the age of consent in Australia Rals. And three, fairly certain the kid is mostly innocent, what would Herc do to you if you corrupted his precious child?”

Raleigh groaned and flopped back on the bed. 

“It’s not fair,” she grumbled, and Yancy was inclined to agree. It wasn’t fair that he was having to babysit his little sister instead of pulling, but he would let it go this once.

~~~~~

Raleigh woke to a screaming hangover, and boy that was an unpleasant feeling. Add alcohol to the drift hangover she had already been experiencing, she was tempted to just curl back up in her bunk, go back to sleep and wait for it all to blow over.

However, her brother had other ideas, he sat by the desk grinning broadly at her, which meant that it was at least 11, if not later, considering Yancy was vertical and actually smiling. Raleigh groaned and buried her head underneath her pillow, causing Yancy to chuckle. 

“You ok there, kid?” Raleigh directed an extremely obscene gesture at him before burrowing deeper into her bunk. 

“How much did I drink last night?” her voice was muffled by the mattress her face was pressed against. 

“Do you not remember?” Yancy asked his voice had a mischievous tone to it and that worried Raleigh enough to remove her head from its cocoon. The look she gave him told him enough to continue. 

“Well, I’m guessing it was about half a bottle of the seriously good vodka, which probably explains why you thought it was a good idea to flirt with the youngest Hansen.”

Raleigh’s eyes widened in fear, “I hit on Scott?” 

Yancy laughed again, “No, Baby Hansen, apparently he was here to see his dad on weekend release from the academy, cleared out again this morning according to Herc.”

Raleigh sighed, “Please tell me I didn’t embarrass myself?” 

The look her brother gave her suggested that she very much did. 

“You complimented him on his and I quote ‘majorly impressive stats’ followed by a wink, poor kid’s face was nearly the same colour as his hair when he practically slammed the door in your face. You then proceeded to complain about how unfair it was that he was so cute, and he that he has dimples, I tuned you out soon after that.”

Raleigh buried her face back in her pillow. 

“Herc asked if we’d seen him last night as the kid was rather flustered when they got back, turns out that the kid has like the biggest crush on you ever, so yeah you kind of embarrassed yourself, but it could have been worse.”

Raleigh let out another groan. 

“Maybe he will let you see his impressive stats sometime.” 

Raleigh threw the pillow at him then causing Yancy to laugh louder.


	4. Chapter 4

Jaegers were falling left, right and centre. 

It had been nearly 5 years since Anchorage and Raleigh and Yancy had been grounded for 3 months now. Gipsy had been severely damaged in a near-miss with the Becket’s latest deployment against Fiend with Striker Eureka. 

Raleigh had ripped several tendons in her bad shoulder, after Gipsy had lost her left arm again, before being knocked around hard enough to dislodge the siblings. Yancy had suffered a severe concussion, causing Raleigh to joke that now at least both their brains were scrambled. Yancy hadn’t laughed. 

It had been a miracle they’d been allowed to get anywhere near a conn-pod again after Knifehead, and the doctors were happy for Raleigh to be thrown back into a drift. 

They'd discovered over the last few years that Raleigh had small gaps in her memory. Things they'd only realised she'd forgotten when they appeared in a drift from Yancy's point of view or one of Raleigh's memories had twisted back on itself. The gaps didn't seem to affect her in any obvious way and were the clearest sign that she did have some lingering damage but there was no physical evidence of it, and the doctors couldn't find enough reasoning to warrant losing an active duty team.

He was grateful that Raleigh was mostly the same person she was before Anchorage. Some parts of her were different, she was less cocky, her smile never quite reached her eyes. Most people wouldn't have noticed, she did a spectacular job at covering it up, but Yancy knew her better than anyone else, that and he shared a brain with her on a fairly regular basis.

Raleigh also had awful nightmares. Nightmares that would cause her to wake to scream, and the only thing Yancy could do when they occurred, to calm her down, was climb down to her bunk and just hold his sister while talking to her soothingly in French like their mother had done when she was little. The nightmares had subsided in the last few years, and Raleigh no longer woke screaming but Yancy could tell when she had had one. She walked into the mess in the morning looking like she hadn't had a moment of sleep in days. 

He sometimes forgot how bad things were until they drifted and then felt immensely guilty for thinking that she was ok.

This latest failure wasn’t their fault though. 

They’d obeyed orders to a tee, Striker had held the miracle mile while Gipsy had gone up directly against the Kaiju. But the Kaiju had been smarter went directly for the conn-pod just like Knifehead, Gipsy had been practically dead in the water when the Hansen's were given the order to intervene.

Stacker had decided to bring his daughter, Mako, in to help repair Gipsy, and Raleigh might have been slightly in love. Yancy didn’t need the drift to tell him that.

Raleigh had very much been on the wavelength that, when she became a Jaeger pilot, she was given free rein to flirt with and romance whoever she damn pleased. She made her way through almost half their ranger class causing Yancy to laugh, even though he was exasperated. It had only stopped after Anchorage really and that was something Yancy hadn’t even realised had changed. She still flirted with any remotely attractive person with a pulse, but he felt it was more for show than because she wanted to.

Yet here was his kid sister going gooey-eyed over Stacker bloody Pentecost’s daughter, and wasn’t that just a headache waiting to happen. It took Raleigh all of 3 days to decide she wanted to marry Mako, causing Yancy to laugh and remind his sister just who her father was, and make Raleigh take a step back and think. 

Didn’t stop her bloody crush though.

Then the decision to shut down the programme came - and wasn’t that a horrific shock - Stacker moved them immediately to Hong Kong to gather every scrap they had left in an attempt to give them the best fighting chance, as that wall was going to get them all killed. 

And Raleigh, she decided that Mako may be beautiful and the most badass woman she’d ever met, but she was better being her friend. 

If they were going to go down trying to save the world they might as well do it with as many friends as they could get.

~~~~~

Yancy thought he might pass out from laughing at Raleigh’s face when Sasha and Alexis Kaidonovsky walked up to her. He wasn’t sure if she was going to pass out or cry when Sasha told her that “you’re a very brave ranger, strong.” 

And when Raleigh proudly thanked her in not far from perfect Russian, and Alexis laughed and clapped the kid on her good shoulder, Yancy was fairly certain Raleigh’s smile outshone the sun.

He was also fairly certain that Mako had been replaced in Raleigh’s list of most badass women, hell if he wasn’t strictly into dudes he would probably have been infatuated with Sasha as well, Alexis was impressive enough without adding her into the mix.

~~~~~

While the world might have been ending, at least they were enjoying what little of it was left to them.

That’s when Mutavore attacked Sydney, all the pilots headed to LOCCENT to watch. 

Raleigh was stood between Yancy and Sasha, who had decided to take the younger woman under her wing. Raleigh was fidgeting, she had never liked watching other pilots deployed, it always made her feel helpless. Yancy placed his hand on her arm to steady her, as a reminder that it wasn’t just her who was sitting this one out, and at Alexis’ complaint of “идиоты, use the missiles,” she couldn’t help but agree.

Then came the post-interview and Chuck Hansen stood there next to his father looking for all the world like he'd happily punch the throng of reporters in front of him. 

Raleigh couldn't stop herself from taking in the younger ranger's appearance. They hadn't crossed paths since being deployed together on Fiend and while they had never exactly been friends they had been friendly enough. Before he became a pilot she'd been the youngest ever, and if anyone had any clue how he felt then it was her. Raleigh had even snuck him into a bar that was more than happy to look the other way during their previous deployment. Add that to the fact that the little shit had even had a Striker jacket made that was almost identical to the Becket's old jackets for Gipsy. Plus she'd certainly flirted enough with the younger pilot that she felt her intentions towards him were rather clear.

But after the apparent failure of Gipsy against Fiend, Chuck had refused to see the Becket's in medical and had got on the transport back to Australia without a word. Raleigh had found out from Tendo that apparently Chuck didn't want anything to do with "shit pilots".

Just because he was a dick didn't mean Raleigh wasn't enjoying the chance to take a look at the Australian and he looked good if a bit tired and more than a bit pissed off. She was taking the sight in when the man opened his mouth again and Raleigh froze. 

“It’s second rate pilots that have let this programme down, not the Jaegers. We keep letting them pilot when they’re not even fit to be building this goddamn disgrace of a wall.”

One of the Wei’s mumbled something in Cantonese that should never be repeated in any company never mind polite. Yancy nodded as though he was inclined to agree, he never had Raleigh’s natural talent for languages, but he knew enough bad language fill a small dictionary.

Raleigh's fists had curled up and she'd gone pale. 

Yancy began to say something to his sister, but she'd already turned away from the other pilots and was walking out of LOCCENT.

~~~~~

Yancy caught up with her 20 minutes later in the training room, after having checked their quarters and her other usual haunts. Raleigh had her hands taped and was going to town on one of the sandbags hung in the room.

"Raleigh," he called out from across the room so as not to accidentally startle the woman. 

She barely reacted and continued her attacks. Yancy walked up so he was behind the bag and she stopped long enough that he could take hold and provide some resistance.

"You know the kids wrong right?" Yancy said after a few minutes. 

The look Raleigh gave him told him that she wasn't exactly in the mood for this conversation. He elected to ignore his younger sister and carry on. 

“The kid is arrogant, he’s a douchebag, it's not like he hasn't been in fights where they lost rangers. Yeah, he lost his mom, but fuck haven’t most of us! Doesn't give him an excuse to be that much of a bastard. He still has his dad and Herc’s a good man, but damn that kid is something.”

Raleigh gave him another weathering look, but her hits weren't as ferocious as they had been when he'd walked in.

“And if he ever, ever, says something like that to you Raleigh, I’m gonna set Sasha on him”

Yancy’s wolfish grin was enough to bring a small chuckle from her because maybe she would like to see the kid shit himself as long as Sasha didn’t mess up his face. If she was at least going to have to listen to him sprout bullshit until the world ended, she might as well get something nice to look at while he did it.


	5. Chapter 5

Raleigh and Yancy were standing by Crimson Typhoon’s bay when Striker was brought in. Raleigh was leant against the wall chatting with Jin and Cheung, Yancy had given up trying to follow the fast-paced Cantonese and instead had gone to harass Hu about what he and Mako had been up to the other day.

When the Hansen’s walked in, Cheung turned to Raleigh “Are you ever going to be taller than another pilot, Little Becket?” 

When she saw that he was referring to Chuck, which fuck you very much, he was only just over 6 foot, she turned to face the eldest triplet and swore colourfully at him. That was barely 5 inches, and she could probably still take the fucker down.

The Hansen’s had to pass the Chinese crew’s bay to get to Striker and as they passed, Chuck shot an extremely dirty look in Raleigh’s direction to which Jin and Cheung closed into Raleigh and glared back at the kid. 

She already had an overprotective brother and while she appreciated the sibling’s support - they’d become fast friends and it was nice to have people her own age around again - she didn't need protecting.

~~~~~

Raleigh couldn’t help but noticing that things didn’t improve over the next few days. In fact, she was nearly always accompanied by one or several of the other pilots, who all took turns in glaring at the younger Hansen if he even came into the same room as Raleigh. 

On the 3rd day when Raleigh finally lost her patience with it as she had gone to head for the kwoon and Mako and Yancy followed her. Raleigh whirled on the two of them. 

“For fuck's sake, I do not need protecting from Chuck, he is 21. I can handle myself around a cocksure, 21-year-old.” 

Mako and Yancy took a step back from the angry woman. 

“Rals, we didn’t…” Yancy started at the same time Mako began “He can be difficult….”

She cut both off with a glare. 

“Just tell everyone to back off, if he wants to have it out with me, let him. Kid could do with putting in his place anyway.” 

Raleigh turned away at that, heading off to the far side of the kwoon, making it clear she was done with this topic and Yancy and Mako didn’t have much of a choice other than to just go with it.

~~~~~

When things didn’t immediately improve, Raleigh roped Tendo into help teaching the rest of the pilots a lesson. The PA system from LOCCENT linked into each of the Jaeger bays individually and could be set specifically for each and wasn’t that just a wonderful invention.

Raleigh would have done it herself, but she wasn’t exactly an engineer or technical wizard. She wasn’t dumb, she knew that getting through the Academy required a high IQ, and speaking 6 languages almost fluently was no small feat, she just didn’t speak tech.

Raleigh hadn’t become good friends with all the other pilots and not learnt any damaging information on them. She was very good at finding out that sort of thing - she was a little sister, after all, it was kind of her job - and knowing the exact song that made each pilot want to remove their own eardrums was a perfect use of her talents.

Coming into the hanger the next morning was a cacophony of noise and pure torture and Raleigh relished every moment of it. 

Yancy was attempting to look at the new schematics that Mako was showing him for Gipsy, but Tendo had ensured that a looping mixtape of something called Pink Fong’s greatest hits were playing. Raleigh had no clue what that was but Tendo had promised her it was the quickest way to guarantee his surrender, and upon hearing it herself she was inclined to agree.

The Wei’s and Kaidonovsky’s were the easiest, all it required was switching each crew’s music with the other. 

Her true masterpiece, however, was dragging the Australian’s into the punishment, as it wasn’t like they were an innocent party in all of this. Men at Work played loudly and obnoxiously from their bay and if she happened to see Chuck’s face turn practically purple, then she felt justified in looking smug.


	6. Chapter 6

She really shouldn’t have been surprised when it all came to a head the next day. 

The Beckets were doing a test run in Gipsy, Mako had assured them that she was 100% functional and running better than she ever had before. The doctors had decided that it was best for the siblings to switch sides due to Raleigh’s compounded injury to her left shoulder, and this was the first time that either one of them had been on the other side of the rig.

She was already nervous about doing the test run with this many pilots watching, but changing their positions and placing her on the dominant side was enough to cause her insomnia to ratchet up another level and she had had exactly 0 hours of sleep.

Yancy was far calmer, he trusted Raleigh to lead the two of them. It wasn't like they hadn't drifted before and this far into a partnership, the dominant Ranger was really no more in charge than the other. But he could feel how worried Raleigh was, to be taking that role off of him.

However, Raleigh lasted all of 1 minute into the drift before she practically launched herself out of alignment. 

Seeing Knifehead’s attack from Yancy’s point of view, feeling herself being pulled out as well as watching it happen, and Yancy who was normally a calming anchor through the storm was pulled out by her. He managed to return quickly to alignment, but Raleigh was gone. 

The only thing that got her to stop and pull out of the RABIT was the panic attack that ripped through her, but not before she’d managed to activate the plasma cannon and give everyone in the Shatterdome enough of a shock that a few changes of underwear were probably required.

~~~~~

The minute medical had cleared Raleigh from the shock of the failed drift to her already damaged neurons, the Becket’s were hauled up in front of Stacker’s office waiting to be flayed within an inch of their lives if they were lucky.

Chuck Hansen stormed out of the office looking like he was about to tear the first thing he got his hands on to shreds. 

They’d both heard exactly what he’d said to Stacker. That they’re both a liability, Yancy can’t balance her and that she barely had enough competent brain cells left to maintain a drift with a long-term co-pilot.

As he stepped out the door he turned on the two siblings. 

“You two are a goddamn disgrace, you’re gonna get us all killed.” 

While he was talking to both of them, he was looking directly at Raleigh. Yancy had moved slightly in front of her and for once Raleigh didn’t protest or try to push past.

“Why don’t you just do us all a favour, Rah-leigh, and drop out now before you destroy yet another Jaeger and possibly your brother this time yeah?” 

Raleigh didn’t even think, and before she knew it, she’d stepped around Yancy, who was stood frozen in shock, and her fist was colliding with the kid’s face. He may have had 5 inches and probably a good 60lbs on her, but Raleigh was solid muscle, both her and Yancy were. 

They had been scrawny kids and every pound they packed on was sheer power. Chuck was built like a brick-shithouse, meaning that she was quicker, and her attacks were planned out to use all the power available to her, and that gave her a leg up.

Normally she'd hold back in a fight like this, they couldn't afford for a team to be out of commission over a stupid fight, but she had seen red. The logical part of her brain - the part that usually had Yancy's voice and was often chastising her - had almost completely shut off. 

All she could feel was the rage and hurt at the words that came from this obnoxious kid's mouth and she wanted him to pay for it.

Chuck was on the floor for the second time, blood pouring from a more-than-likely broken nose, when Herc came charging out of the office to see what the commotion was.  
Yancy had finally had enough sense - after the kid’s head hit the floor with a resounding crack, hard enough that he'd need to be checked for concussion - to grab his sister around the waist and drag her backwards. He was lucky she hadn't tried to bite him in response as it wouldn't have been the first time.

Chuck launched himself up and towards the two rangers, but Herc grabbed his shoulder and shoved him backwards, before dragging him off down the corridor.

~~~~~

Herc didn’t let go of Chuck’s shoulder until he’d shoved his son through the door to their quarters. 

“Please for the love of God, explain what the fuck just happened there.” 

Chuck whirled to look at his father, blood still dripping from his nose onto his t-shirt. 

“Just told the two of them, what they already knew.”

Herc practically growled at him. “What. Did. You. Say?” 

He stepped closer into his son’s space. 

“I told her to quit now before she gets her brother killed.”

Herc went rigid, “You did what now?” his voice was steady, low and deathly serious. 

“You’re telling me that you told Raleigh Becket, the person who felt her brother die during the drift and then successfully solo piloted for 4 hours back to shore, that she was going to get the only person she has left in the world, killed?”

Chuck at least had the decency to look a little ashamed. 

“The woman, who instead of quitting and running away, got back in a Jaeger and has continued to fight for 5 years.”

Herc was still glaring at his son, Chuck was a bastard he knew that, but he didn’t think he was that dense of a bastard.

“I didn’t know,” The younger Hansen’s voice was small, he looked like he was about to vomit. 

“Of course, you didn’t. No way were we going to broadcast that info, but you should have asked rather than assuming.” 

Herc’s voice was still angry but had softened considerably. 

“You used to admire the Becket’s so much, hell you and Raleigh could have been friends at one point. You know it doesn’t make someone less of a hero just because they’ve fallen a few times.”

Herc placed his hand on Chuck’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort the lad, who instead of shrugging it off like he normally would just hung his head. 

“Yeah, but I’ve fucked up big time with this one.” 

~~~~~

Yancy was bouncing. He had never wanted to hit something or someone more in his life than he did at that moment. 

It took all of his control to not lose it in front of the Marshal, and yet Raleigh who was normally so feisty, so against any sort of reprimand, stood in silence, nodding at every one of Pentecost’s points until he told them they were both grounded.

“Sir, it’s my fault, don’t punish Yancy. I’m the one who went out of alignment. I’m the one who almost blew up half the Shatterdome.” 

Yancy opened his mouth to disagree but was stopped by Pentecost’s response. 

“Rangers, you both went out of alignment, and unless you can think of another pilot for your brother, the grounding will remain in place.”

His tone left no room for argument and Yancy held his tongue until the two of them were dismissed and back inside their quarters, away from the ever-present ears of the Shatterdome gossip circles.

“I’m gonna kill him,” Yancy was seething and Raleigh just stood there and looked at him blankly, “He had no right to say that to you.” 

Raleigh locked eyes with her brother, “He’s not wrong though Yancy, he never is. Kid’s smart as hell he knows that it boils down to my fault, it was my decision to disobey orders and it nearly got us both killed.” 

Her tone was flat like she was simply commenting on the weather, Yancy nearly pulled his hair out in frustration at her.

“How many times have I told you that it wasn’t your fault Raleigh. We were in the drift, it was our decision, not yours, not mine, ours.” 

Raleigh just looked at him, her expression telling him just as much as the ghost drift, that she found that unlikely.

“You can’t make a decision on your own in the drift the minute you think it, I think it too. I was just as much in agreement, you didn’t force me, you didn’t coerce me. We’re co-pilots for fuck's sake, that means we’re in it together.” 

Raleigh looked like she was going to argue like she was about to walk straight to the Marshal’s office and demand that she be removed from duty and Yancy was about to tackle his baby sister and tie her to some furniture.

Then the alarm sounded.


	7. Chapter 7

Chuck was about to go and apologise he really was, but then the alarm sounded, and all thoughts of the Beckets left his mind. By the time he reached LOCCENT with his old man, the siblings were already standing there. 

Yancy glaring at him like he’d just shot a puppy, and one look at Raleigh told Chuck that the truth was probably not too far from that. Her normal vibrant attitude was gone and there stood a shell of the ranger, and fuck that made him feel bad.

Tendo was explaining how the drop would go down but all Chuck could focus on was the younger Becket. Luckily, he got most of the information from Herc once he was in the drift. 

“You’re right to feel guilty son, but focus on the mission, then continue to feel guilty.” 

His dad’s words snapped him out of his thinking, and shit, he was going to feel so bad until he apologised wasn’t he.

~~~~~

Raleigh stood practically hovering over Tendo’s shoulder the only thing that stopped her moving any closer was Pentecost’s steely gaze because she didn’t have an active death wish.

Things were going badly Raleigh could admit it. The Jaeger’s were outmatched, and Striker had been told to stay put and she knew that perfect Baby Hansen wouldn’t disobey an order, even if it meant losing pilots.

So, she was extremely shocked when Striker moved to engage despite firm orders not to. It was their disobedience that meant the choppers could get in to rescue the Wei Tangs in their Pods and distracted Leatherback long enough that Sasha and Alexis could get out and away from the ruined conn-pod. 

At that moment she could have kissed both the Hansen’s.

Then the EMP hit the Shatterdome and Raleigh knew that they needed to do something. She practically tackled Yancy in her desperation to get to him.

“We need to suit up now!” she hissed at her brother, who was still trying to get closer to see what exactly had happened. 

“What? Rals, we're still grounded if you hadn’t realised.” 

She began tugging him towards the back of LOCCENT, confident that Stacker was a little too preoccupied with the three teams in danger to notice them sneaking out.

“You know what that was.” 

It wasn’t a question, if Raleigh, who had attempted to sleep through the more complicated mechanics and technology lessons they had to endure at the academy, knew what it was, then Yancy who enjoyed the lessons would certainly know.

“Rals, how will that change Pentecost’s decision.” Yancy sounded confused. 

“Yance, Gipsy is nuclear she can run, we’re the only ones who can help.” 

Raleigh sounded sure, surer of herself than she had for a while, Yancy had no idea where this came from, but he wasn’t about to stop her.

The Beckets reached the conn-pod before comms came back online, Gipsy’s techs were helping them get into their drive suits when the Marshal’s voice came over the speakers. 

“Gipsy, why is there activity in your conn-pod?”

Yancy turned to look at his sister who looked like she was ready to take on the world. 

“Marshall, Gipsy is ready and waiting to deploy.” 

Yancy expected to hear a quiver in her voice but it came out strong and sure, if he hadn’t known better, he would have thought they’d ended up in the past, before Knifehead.

“Ranger’s you are both grounded or did I not make myself clear earlier?” 

Yancy wanted to hide at the tone of the older man’s tone, but his sister who looked like she could have taken on the kaiju with her bare hands at that moment in time just answered boldly back.

“With all due respect Marshal, Gipsy is the only jaeger that can run currently and unless you have other pilots up your sleeve that I’m not aware of, my brother and I are all you’ve got, so I repeat, Gipsy Danger is ready and waiting to deploy.”

~~~~~

The Hansen’s were stood on the deck, the rain beating down on everyone assembled. The chopper managed to grab them once Gipsy had lured Leatherback away and Herc had refused to go to medical until the Becket’s were back and Chuck was inclined to agree. 

They were standing just behind the Marshal and Tendo who were trying to help talk Gipsy through controlling the descent, and Chuck couldn't take his eyes off of the falling jaeger.

Chuck admitted he’d had a crush on Raleigh since she became a pilot. Every time he'd met her he'd just become more infatuated with the older pilot, probably was why he was such a brat towards her, didn’t excuse him. 

He really hoped that he was going to get the chance to apologise not just to Raleigh but to the older Becket as well and they weren't just going to be turned into some abstract pavement art any moment now.

~~~~~

The cheers reached the Becket’s ears before they even exited the conn-pod. 

Raleigh had refused to move until she was out of the drive suit, she hated wearing it outside battle. The minute the two of them were free she launched herself at Yancy. 

“We did it! We did it” she sounded relieved, excited and most of all, like a weight, had been lifted from her shoulders.

“Nah Rals, you did it” 

He hadn’t seen her look like this since before Anchorage and seeing it released tension that Yancy hadn’t noticed he’d been holding on to.

They made it to the floor of the hanger. Hu was sat in a wheelchair, Raleigh was over to him in a flash, Yancy picked up enough of the Cantonese to understand that they were all ok, some breaks and the others were unconscious but nothing too serious.

Once she’d checked the boys, with Yancy hovering at her back, she turned and pulled Mako into a hug, who assured her that the Kaidonovsky’s were fine.Alexis had broken most bones in his left leg and his spine had suffered some damage but it wasn't too clear how bad at the moment and Sasha had fractured her right hip. Both had enough drugs in their system to kill a small child, so wouldn’t be moving around anytime soon.

Yancy could see the visible relief in his sister at the news. She’d always been attached to family, and when their’s had torn apart and they'd lost their mom so soon after, Yancy had worried Raleigh would never heal from that. 

The pilots had become her new family and Yancy didn’t want to think what it would have done if they had lost any of them in the chaos.

Mako also informed her that the Hansen’s only injury was Herc’s arm and Yancy tried to ignore the secondary look of relief that flashed momentarily across his sister’s face, he didn’t want to examine that too closely.

~~~~~

Despite the joy and excitement flooding through Raleigh from the fact that everyone was more or less ok, she was exhausted. She hadn’t felt that in control in nearly 5 years, and she realised how much it had taken out of her. Combining that with the exertion of taking down two Kaiju and then falling to earth, she could have slept for a week.

She made her excuses leaving Yancy with Tendo, who had pulled her brother into a tight embrace the minute he got to him, and she was so grateful that her brother had someone.

She was heading down the corridor back to her quarters when she heard quickened footsteps approaching from behind. 

She turned to see Chuck walking right towards her and Raleigh braced herself expecting to be tackled or punched, but when he stopped several steps away from her she relaxed slightly.

“You did, erm, good out there, like really good. I mean obviously you know that because you took two Kaiju down and that’s really impressive and erm.” 

Chuck was rambling, he was making a fool out of himself in front of Raleigh Becket, what was his life coming to, and she was just stood there in shock.

“What I’m trying to say is you were amazing and I’m sorry, and I had to make a decision tonight that went against orders and my old man got hurt because of it, and I get it now, because even though he got hurt, I wouldn’t take it back as people lived because of that decision and I guess I’m just saying I should never have said those things because I didn’t know what I was talking about and I’m a colossal cunt, and I just wanted to see if we could maybe try the friends thing again.”

Raleigh stared at the man in front of her, he hadn’t breathed for the entire spiel he’d just delivered, and she was worried that he might actually pass out from oxygen deprivation.

She realised that it had been nearly a full minute since he finished talking and she hadn’t said anything. The younger pilot was fidgeting from the wait, and fuck Raleigh realised that she found it slightly adorable.

She stretched her hand out to Chuck before responding. 

“Nice to meet you, I’m Raleigh Becket” and Chuck raised an eyebrow in confusion before realising what she meant, and took her offered hand. 

“Chuck Hansen, nice to meet you too.”


	8. Chapter 8

Yancy woke with a start. 

For a moment he was confused as to where he was, but the warmth of another body against his chest made him realise. He lay there for a few moments just enjoying being near Tendo, until the realisation hit him that if he slept here then Raleigh had been alone, he hadn't left her alone after a drop, not since Knifehead.

He moved quickly, trying to ensure he didn’t wake Tendo, but wanting to get back to his room to make sure his sister had actually slept last night. He was pulling his trousers on when Tendo stirred. 

“Trying to sneak out on me, Becket boy?”

Yancy chuckled, before moving over to place a kiss on his forehead. 

“Think we’re a bit beyond that, love. I’m just going to check on Rals, make sure she actually slept.” 

Tendo mumbled an understanding, before promptly mashing his face back into the pillow and began snoring. Yancy smiled, giving his boyfriend one last look, before heading towards his and Raleigh’s bunk.

Yancy avoided knocking and opened the door slowly in the hope that if Raleigh was asleep, he wouldn’t wake her up. 

The first thing he noticed was the noise from the tv, which was the only source of light in the room and seemed to be looping a DVD menu screen of some space movie.

He turned to look at Raleigh’s bunk expecting to see said Ranger. 

The sight that greeted him would have been adorable, but considering that his little sister was currently fast asleep on the shoulder of an equally unconscious Chuck Hansen, he couldn’t seem to see that side of it.

The only thing that stopped him from screaming at the kid was the fact that Raleigh actually looked peaceful and didn’t seem to have been plagued with nightmares, and he knew that she probably could use the sleep.

~~~~~

Chuck awoke, disorientated, the warm weight on his shoulder throwing him for a loop until he remembered last night. 

Remembered that he and Raleigh had sat talking until she suggested watching some old Sci-fi movie, and they must have fallen asleep. He was about to smile when he heard someone clear their throat from the chair in the corner of the room. 

He looked over to see an extremely unimpressed, Yancy Becket glaring at him.

“What the fuck are you doing here, kid?” 

Yancy’s voice was low but laced with anger, Chuck tried to sit up straighter but didn’t want to jostle Raleigh too much and risk waking her. 

“Nothing!” Chuck responded after a rather pointed and angry look from the older man.

“I mean nothing like that. Raleigh mentioned how she was too wound up to sleep, she asked if I wanted to watch a film, I said yes, we must have passed out.” 

He practically spewed the words out, attempting to keep Yancy from standing up and murdering him.

“And why the fuck would you be the person that she came to?” 

Chuck honestly wondered if looks could kill because at this point Yancy’s probably would.

“I know I fucked up, trust me, I know. I'm sorry, I should never have said those things, shouldn’t have treated you and Raleigh like that. I told her as much last night.” 

His voice felt small and the words insignificant, not enough to repair the damage he caused. Yancy opened his mouth to respond, when Raleigh started shuffling and mumbled before opening her eyes. 

“Not to interrupt whatever is going on here, but you two aren’t as quiet as you think you are.”

Chuck steeled himself expecting Yancy to go full big brother now, but instead Raleigh laughed, moved up off the bed, smiling at Chuck before going over and pulling her brother into a headlock. 

“Knock it off, we’re trying to be friends. Don’t go all overbearing big bro on us now.”

The two siblings began arguing light-heartedly, before Raleigh ruffled her brother’s hair and disappeared off to the bathroom. 

Chuck was still sat on the bed, feeling more than a little shell shocked by what he’d just witnessed. Yancy laughed at the younger man’s expression. 

“She’s always like that, 0-100 in like 0 seconds. She’s a disgusting morning person.” 

Chuck was still reeling, and here was Yancy doing a full 180 with his attitude towards Chuck. Chuck stood up getting ready to leave, and Yancy moved closer into his personal space, before whispering. 

“You’re ok for now Hansen, but you do anything to upset her again, trust me the Kaiju will be the least of your worries.”

~~~~~

Raleigh walked out of the bathroom, hair dripping and wearing just a towel. 

“Fucks sake Rals, what if baby Hansen had still been here?” came Yancy’s less than impressed voice from up on his bunk.

Raleigh flicked the bird at her brother. 

“That would have required you not scaring the kid off, so 0% chance. Also I'm not entirely sure he'd be complaining.” 

Yancy rolled his eyes, this was very much Raleigh back to her old self, and it was nice to see even if she was a pain in his ass. 

“Close your eyes” She added before turning back around and getting dressed.

“So, you slept well then?” Yancy asked his voice feigning innocence. 

“Seriously, Yance, don’t even start.” 

Raleigh jumped up, seating herself on the end of his bunk.

“Nothing’s going on, nothing went on. We talked, he’s a massive nerd.” 

Yancy interjected with “Like you” earning him a punch in the leg, before she carried on. 

“AND, I asked if he wanted to watch a movie that’s it.”

Yancy made some noises that were definitely not in agreement, but let it slide as his sister came and curled up next to him. 

“It’s nice to see you smile properly again Rals,” he said as she grabbed the book he’d been reading, off of him and proceeded to flick through it, losing his place.

He just rolled his eyes in response, yeah it was lovely to have his annoying, bratty little sister back.

~~~~~

Chuck was sat in the mess hall, poking at his breakfast, Herc across from him, his arm up in the sling he was forced to wear, much to his disdain. The two hadn’t discussed the events of the previous day properly, but something had changed in their dynamic. 

Chuck wasn’t sure if it was just the idea of forgiving the Becket’s because he understood the reasons for disobeying orders now. But he could begin to look at their relationship not just from his point of view but his dad’s. Things weren’t perfect, far from it, but maybe they could start to rebuild before the world ended. 

All of a sudden there was a warm presence at his shoulder and Raleigh practically jumped onto the bench beside him before stealing some bacon off of his plate.

“Oi!” Chuck shouted at the older woman, who just smiled at him while slowly chewing the food obnoxiously loud, to make a point. 

Yancy took a seat on the other side of his sister at that point. 

“I’m sorry about her, it’s like someone gave sugar to a toddler.” The exasperation was clear in his voice.

Herc chuckled from across the table, “Seems like you two are getting along?” directing it at the two youngest rangers. 

“He apologised, that’s all I needed,” Raleigh said around a mouthful of bacon, causing Yancy to reach out and put his hand over her mouth.

“Again apologies, she’s disgusting”, causing both Chuck and Herc to laugh at that. 

Especially when Yancy made a disgusted noise as Raleigh licked the palm of his hand in an attempt to get him to remove it.


	9. Chapter 9

Raleigh was in the kwoon with Yancy, running through some drills when an announcement from the Marshal came over the speaker system asking for them in LOCCENT immediately. 

As the Beckets arrived, there, standing in front of the Marshall and Herc, were Chuck and Mako. The last two days since the double event had been busy with repairing the Jaegers.

Raleigh was capable, could follow instructions the techs gave her, but she still felt useless compared to the input Yancy, Mako and Chuck were giving.

When they weren’t busy helping on repairs, or training, Yancy was usually off with Tendo, Mako with Hu or deep in schematics and Raleigh well, Raleigh was usually with Chuck watching some movie or discussing several stupid topics.

She had to admit, she really enjoyed the kid's company, and couldn’t help but think if things had gone differently they could have been friends for a long time before now.

“Rangers,” began the Marshall, instantly drawing Raleigh’s attention back to the present. 

“It has probably come to your attention that we currently only have one Jaeger team that is functional. Considering that the current working theory from K-Science is that we are due our next event within the week, this is a critical situation.”

Raleigh looked towards her brother, who had turned to look at her as well, his eyebrow was raised asking the same silent question that she was. She didn’t need the ghost drift to know that they both wondered what the Marshal’s fix was going to be here.

“The four of you here,” Pentecost said pointedly looking at them, “represent our best hope for reassembling two functional teams.”

All four of them began trying to speak at once. 

“Rangers! I trust that you will hold any comments until we have given this test our full commitment.” 

That silenced them immediately and one look from Herc had none of them attempting any other dissent or questioning.

~~~~~

20 minutes later found them back inside the kwoon. 

Chuck had walked in last, as Mako appeared to have arrived with the Marshal and Herc and Yancy and Raleigh looked like they had arrived only moments earlier. Looking at Raleigh who was wearing a pair of training pants and a vest top, Chuck realised that he hadn’t seen Raleigh Becket in anything without long sleeves in years. 

Not on TV, not in the scarce few interviews the siblings now did and not in any photos that the remaining handful of paparazzi had managed to snap of her.

He noticed the patterning along her collarbone and down her left shoulder that was clearly visible, some sections redder and angrier than others. It made him feel like an asshole all over again, as it was clear just how much damage she’d suffered, never mind the neural issues.

Chuck must have been staring for a fair few moments as Raleigh had begun to walk over to him and when the Marshal’s voice boomed out across the room.

~~~~~

Chuck and Yancy were stepping up to the mat. 

Raleigh could already tell by the set of Chuck’s shoulders and the ghost drift from Yancy that this wasn’t going to end well. Both men were in so many ways, different, and both had scores they felt they needed to settle. Yancy wanting to give Chuck a lesson and Chuck not wanting to give in to the older man.

Mako was stood next to Raleigh on the edge of the mat, along with Sasha and Hu, who were both in wheelchairs due to the severity of their injuries, but had refused to stay in the medical wing after hearing what was happening, and on the other side of the mat, nearest the door were Herc and the Marshal.

Mako turned to Raleigh, commenting low in Japanese, “They will not be compatible.” 

Raleigh nodded in agreement but didn’t take her eyes off the two men. 

She could overhear the conversation between Sasha and Hu and they seemed to be in agreement, and if all of them could realise this then surely the Marshall was aware of this fact, which meant this wasn’t to test compatibility, and more likely to ensure that any tension was dealt with.

Sure enough, instead of trying to create a dialogue, both men were just trying to land hits on one another, and while Yancy was arguably the more pissed of the two, he was good at baiting people, and Chuck took the openings and catalogued his movement far too much, allowing Yancy to react and take him down. 

Yancy managed to score 5 points on Chuck before the Marshal called it deciding that, even if they calmed down, there was no way the two of them would be compatible.

“Ranger Hansen you may step off the mat, Ranger Becket will you please remain.”

The Marshal’s voice was level but carried across the room silencing the chatter. 

“Miss Mori will you please step onto the mat.”

Mako glanced once at Raleigh, who smiled at her giving her a thumbs up before she turned away toeing off her shoes and stepping up to meet Yancy. 

Chuck came to stand next to Raleigh, not meeting the other Rangers gazes. 

“If it makes you feel any better, you guys were never going to be compatible,” Raleigh said to the younger Ranger.

Chuck just shot her a glare, but there was no heat behind it. 

“Why Mako and Yancy next? Why not you and Mako?” Chuck asked keeping his voice low, as he rubbed his left side where Yancy landed a particularly hard hit.

“Because the Marshal is already aware that Mako and I are compatible, we were here for a while before Striker was decommissioned, Yancy had a concussion, Mako was available and itching for someone to spar with.” 

Raleigh shrugged, “Besides, it’s irrelevant at this point if she and I are compatible.” 

Chuck turned completely towards her, raising an eyebrow, at that.

“Come on Hansen, surely you’ve already done the maths here? Yance and I are obviously compatible, Mako and I could theoretically hold a stable drift, the issue here is you.”

She held up a hand before he began having a go. 

“You and Mako are obviously not compatible or you’d have been teamed up at the academy, and well we all saw how you and Yancy went down. That leaves the option of you and me, which is irrelevant if Yance and Mako aren’t compatible.”

Chuck looked at her shocked for a moment, before schooling his features. 

“You are definitely smarter than you look, Becket.” 

Raleigh just elbowed him in his already sore side, laughing quietly to herself at his small gasp of pain, while trying to keep an eye on the match in front of them.

Mako and Yancy were evenly matched, possibly more so than she and Raleigh had been. Trading point for point almost perfectly, and after 10 minutes the Marshall declared the match complete. 

Yancy stepped forward and pulled Mako into a quick embrace, Raleigh didn’t hear what he said over the cheering from Hu next to her, but she could guess as to the nature of the exchange.

Raleigh didn’t need to wait for the direction from the Marshal instead clapped her hand onto Chuck’s shoulder. 

“Ready, kid?”

Chuck sucked in a sharp breath, “Ready as I’ll ever be”

The two rangers stepped onto the mat opposite each other, Raleigh made eye contact with Chuck and bowed slightly to the younger ranger. He responded in kind, before the Marshall asked them to take their places, and called for the match to begin.

Both stood there for several moments waiting for the other to take the first move, Raleigh could feel Yancy’s approval that the kid was learning from his mistakes, passing through the ghost drift. 

The momentary lapse of concentration gave Chuck the opening to attack, but before he could even bring the staff down, Raleigh’s block was in place. Raleigh stepped backwards and took up a defensive stance waiting for Chuck to take the first move again. 

This carried on for long enough that Raleigh lost track, the two taking shots at one another, but neither actually managing to land a blow.

“Rangers” 

The Marshal’s voice rang out across the room, causing Raleigh and Chuck to realise that the only sound had been their heavy breathing and the clash of their staffs. 

“That will be enough, thank you.”

It took them and everyone else a moment to realise, but in their entire match neither had scored a point on each other. A cheer broke out from one side of the room and Raleigh was in too much shock to be able to place it, but everyone gathered in the room picked up the cheering and carried it on.

Chuck looked at Raleigh gobsmacked, and in response she just launched herself at him, laughing and wrapping her arms around his neck. 

“That was fucking, awesome.” She cheered as he slowly brought his arms up and hugged her back.

“Congratulations Rangers.” Stackers voice called above the cheering. 

“Clean up, and I want you all back in LOCCENT for trial runs in 2 hours.”


	10. Chapter 10

Chuck was stood in LOCCENT, he was the first to make it back after they all went their separate ways to clean up. 

His mind was still trying to process what had actually happened in the kwoon. He’d been through plenty of matches to assess compatibility in the academy and no one had come even remotely close. 

Sometimes he wondered if it was just him being closed off, unaccepting of the partners offered to him, and then the opportunity to drift with his dad came up. 

They had immediately been declared compatible and Chuck thought that the match between them was the most in sync he would ever be with anyone else without a neural-link involved.

But then this match with Raleigh made him feel like even the drift’s he’d experienced with his father paled in comparison, and from her reaction, he was fairly certain she felt something similar.

~~~~~

Raleigh was sat on her bunk, skin still slightly damp from the shower as she’d dressed immediately, being unable to sit still and take things slow, but now here she was with another 20 minutes until they were required, and she had nothing to do but overthink.

Yancy was in the shower, and Raleigh was slightly grateful for the fact that her brother - who could read her so well - wasn’t there to psychoanalyse her. 

She’d had a fair few kwoon matches in her time, several of them indicated compatibility, Yancy obviously, Mako, and the Wei’s to name a few.

Yancy reckoned that it was because Raleigh desired to be friendly with everyone - she was easy going and personable and similar to those rare Rangers that acted as a blank slate - she could match the person across from her by finding similarities in them, just by her very nature.

Raleigh was unsure of this assessment, as there were many more, she hadn’t been compatible with, but her brother just shrugged, saying that she didn’t know them, didn’t have that connection. 

She wondered if they’d tried this experiment a week ago the results would have been different, she assumed, probably due to the way Chuck and Yancy’s match had gone, but who knew if mutual respect was required or just helped.

Raleigh had always felt close to her brother always felt in sync with him to such a degree that their mother swore that they were two halves of one person. 

But this was different, this wasn’t knowing someone to such a degree you could tell their next move just from a look.

This was feeling it deep in her bones before they even felt it themselves, and that shook her to the core. If their match was this intense and left her feeling like this, then how much stronger would the drift be?

~~~~~

Raleigh and Chuck stood off to the side of Tendo, Herc and the Marshal watching the stationary figure of Gipsy Danger in front of LOCCENT’s windows. 

Tendo was running through the checklist as Yancy and Mako were suited up, Raleigh couldn’t help but smile at the banter the two men kept up throughout, as much to calm Yancy as it was for Mako.

Chuck kept fidgeting slightly next to her, she’d never seen him anything but the picture of calm, even when Striker had been dead in the water he’d seemed calmer than this. 

She reached her hand out and grabbed his, Chuck flinched slightly, but instead of pulling his hand away he kept it there gently squeezing her hand back.

“It’s going to be ok,” Raleigh said quietly, Chuck laughed slightly. 

“I know Ray,” she pulled a face at him for the nickname, but he ignored her, “just I’ve never jockeyed with anyone other than my old man you know? Guess I’m just a tad nervous.” 

He trailed off towards the end as if admitting it made him weak.

Raleigh looked at him, “You’re not the only one, I’ve never drifted with anyone but Yance, same for him with me and Mako has never drifted period. I think it’s perfectly normal to be nervous, I know I am.” 

She squeezed his hand tighter, in an attempt to reassure him, Chuck may have been about to respond but Tendo’s voice became louder. 

“Initiating neural handshake in 5…4…3…2 and 1.”

The handshake held steady, they were synced at 91%. Raleigh had seen drifts hold as low as 83% so this was good, she started to relax and could feel Chuck relax next to her, his grip on her hand relaxed slightly but didn’t let go.

Gipsy began to run through drills and everything was going well until Mako’s readouts went haywire. 

“Gipsy, Mako is out of alignment” Tendo’s voice was calm, but she could see his grip tighten on the microphone.

Yancy’s voice came over the speakers, “I know, give me a second.” 

It was strained, and Raleigh stood there, not noticing that she was holding her breath until the readings normalised. She could hear Yancy talking soothingly to Mako, and Tendo quickly severed the neural link allowing the two pilots to disconnect and Yancy to comfort the younger Ranger.


	11. Chapter 11

Raleigh walked into Striker’s prep room, feeling rather self-conscious in just her circuitry suit – she’d learnt early on with Gipsy’s crew that there was no point in embarrassment, as they had to get fairly intimate in order to put on the drive suit on. 

But this was a new crew – people who she’d had limited interaction with over the years and for another thing, it wasn’t just the crew she was worried about. She’d grown up with Yancy, seeing each other in a circuitry suit was nothing, but Chuck, well that was a whole new situation.

Chuck walked in before the self-consciousness could really set in and she started fidgeting. Raleigh was never exactly shy or withdrawn about the fact that she found Chuck attractive, hell the flirting over the years had been about as subtle as a flying brick.

Sure, she’d been in fairly close proximity to him most of this last week and only a few hours ago she was up close and personal with him in the kwoon, but she wasn’t actually paying attention to the man’s physique, more about the most effective way to lay him flat on his ass.

She didn’t realise quite how long she’d been looking him over until Chuck spoke. 

“Liking something you see there, Becket?” 

He had a smug grin on his face. Raleigh blushed slightly at being caught out and moved toward the crew who had her drive suit ready to put on. Chuck actually snorted at her reaction before moving over to the remaining crew.

Suiting up was familiar, about the only part of this entire experience that was familiar. Here she was in a different conn-pod, with a different crew, and a different co-pilot standing next to her.

Raleigh’s suit was new – she and Yancy had gone through two full sets now – but Chuck’s was older, it had obviously been changed a few times since he first became a pilot, having seen how much the kid had filled out over the years she wasn’t surprised. But it looked like it hadn’t been changed in at least several drops and had lots of superficial scratches and damage.

As they moved towards the conn-pod, Chuck gave her a long look up and down, not even attempting to conceal the action. 

“Aren’t you gonna say something?” Raleigh asked holding his gaze. 

“No point, in five minutes you’re gonna be inside my head” he grinned back at the older pilot.

Raleigh was worried about which side Chuck would take, by rights this was his jaeger, he should take the right but he just headed for the left no hesitation. She wondered if it was simply due to familiarity, or if there was something more to it.

Chuck noticed her hesitation to move towards the right-hand side but just nodded at her reassuringly and before she could overthink it any more she stepped up to the rig.

~~~~

Yancy stood in LOCCENT, Mako had calmed down fairly quickly, but a first drift was always a rough experience and she’d been taken down to medical just to check that she was ok, and the handshake hadn’t affected her in any way.

He was more nervous about Raleigh and Chuck’s drift than he had been about his and Mako’s. He knew Raleigh, probably better than anyone else on the planet. Raleigh’s brain was chaos to his calm. 

She was always flicking from one idea to the next and it ended up feeling like you were standing in the middle of a storm and it was more about weathering it than actually fighting it.

He had always assumed that they were so compatible because they complimented each other, his order made her calm down, allowing her to analyse the situation, creating a strategy, while her impulsiveness allowed him to jump headlong into anything she suggested.

Having spoken to Herc, it seemed that Chuck’s brain was far more similar to Raleigh’s than his own and he couldn’t help but worry about how those two forces of nature would interact with each other. 

If the drift went wrong they could very much tear the shatterdome apart, which was why Tendo had made extra certain that all weapons systems were switched off, didn't stop him from worrying though.

~~~~

“Neural Handshake initiating in 5…3….1”

The drift had never exactly been calming to Chuck, but his dad had always been too disciplined to allow emotion and chaos to be brought into it. 

This was completely different; Raleigh’s mind was a swirling vortex of emotion and memories that threatened to engulf him at any moment. Chuck tried to let the thoughts wash over him, not focusing on any in particular, but some were clearer than others.

He caught glimpses of three children laughing and playing together, heard a woman’s voice singing - in what Raleigh’s mind supplied was French. He saw snow for the first time in his life, he saw a normal family which caused a surge of longing and jealousy. 

But the happiness and innocence faded, and soon the memories were tinged with pain and sadness. Memories of her father and a younger sister that Chuck hadn't been aware of, were tainted with anger and betrayal. They made Chuck's teenage anger at his father seem pale in comparison.

Chuck saw the image of the woman who must have been their mother from the uncanny resemblance to Raleigh, but she looked pale and gaunt. The grief that poured from Raleigh at the memory was enough to tell Chuck what had happened to their mother.

The sadness was broken up by laughter, by happiness and Chuck could see the common thread in all those memories – Yancy. He noticed a lot of memories of the two piloting, could feel the adrenaline, the enjoyment and also the fear.

Knifehead was awful. 

Chuck couldn't even begin to describe the pain that Raleigh had experienced, but the feeling of Yancy being torn from the drift was something that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

The last memories that he caught glimpses of included him, some tinged with hurt and anger – him arriving at the shatterdome, him shouting from inside Stacker’s office, and her punching him square in the face. The more recent ones were tinged with warmth and laughter, with friendship. 

But there was also something else there, and fuck, that was interesting.

He’d always been attracted to Raleigh Becket, hell, go back 5 years and he’d have probably married her on the bloody spot he was that infatuated with her. He’d grown up since then and while his hero-worship had disappeared, the attraction hadn’t.

He could feel the attraction in the earlier memories of him, even when she wanted to punch him in the face. But now it was something more, it wasn’t just attraction and he knew that it wasn’t one-sided.

And for the first time, Chuck looked beyond dealing with the Kaiju and sealing the breach and maybe he could see some sort of future and maybe he could share that with the woman standing next to him.

~~~~~

“Neural Handshake initiating in 5…3….1”

The drift had always held a sense of familiarity to Raleigh. 

The comfort of shared memories and the order that was Yancy, to the restlessness that was her. The fact that the pain she felt from her brother was the same pain and she didn’t have to reveal that side of herself to anyone else, that they both understood each other so well made the drift that much stronger and safer to her.

This was completely different. 

That sense of calm and order that she was used to was replaced with the storm that was Chuck Hansen. With Yancy, the majority of the memories that she saw were her own with a different viewpoint. 

This was a whole new experience. 

Seeing someone else’s secrets and pain and joy and she’d never been a part of or experienced any of it. It felt so personal and intrusive she had to be careful not to be overwhelmed and dragged into any of the memories.

She saw glimpses of Chuck’s childhood, of happiness and that sense of belonging that only family can give you. She felt, rather than saw, Scissure’s attack on Sydney, felt the terror and the fear that practically threatened to smother her. 

She had never experienced an attack from the ground, she’d only ever seen them through a screen or from a jaeger and she had to work hard to avoid being consumed by that terror.

The grief from the loss of his mother and then the loneliness and anger that tainted all the memories after that made Raleigh’s heart hurt. She was used to pain and loss, but she’d always had her brother through it all and it made her all the more grateful for Yancy and made her fear the idea of losing him even more.

She saw the pride in Chuck’s memories at becoming a ranger, at being respected by his peers and looked at as just more than Herc Hansen’s son.

Throughout all the memories she caught glimpses of herself – after all memories that tie you to each other make the connection stronger. She saw interviews of herself, posters that covered a wall and she could feel the attraction and admiration that coloured the memories.

She tried to ignore the memories that were more personal and would probably result in blushing on both their parts for a good long while, but it was difficult as they weren’t exactly few and far between.

One of the memories that stood out was a very drunk, much younger version of herself flirting with a much younger Chuck. She’d seen it from Yancy’s point of view before, but this was completely different. 

She could feel the embarrassment from Chuck but also the fact that he didn’t shut the door from anger. Far from it, and she caught glimpses of exactly why he’d shut it after.

She felt the anger that Chuck felt at the Becket's failing for a second time. 

She also saw the last few weeks. Saw how his opinions on her changed. How the guilt from the things he said affected him and how much he wanted to make things right and just how much he valued this new friendship between them.

Raleigh could feel the hope there as well, the hope that there might be something more between them. 

She couldn’t deny that she liked him more than a friend and she had always been attracted to him and she could see that the feelings were mutual, and she really wanted a chance to explore them further if they didn’t die in the next few hours or days.


	12. Chapter 12

The drift stabilised, and those gathered in LOCCENT were struggling to come to terms with what they were seeing. 

The handshake was hovering at around 98%. 

Stacker hadn't heard of a handshake so high, the strongest he'd ever witnessed was the Kaidonovsky's at 96%, most experienced pairs hovered around 94%. If Yancy hadn't been just as shocked, he would have been laughing at the expression on Herc's face. 

As it was though you could probably have heard a pin drop inside of the room.

Tendo, ever the consummate professional, was the first to recover. 

"Rangers, neural handshake is holding steady at 98%". 

There was silence over the comms for a few seconds before an incredulous Australian accent sounded back. 

"Mate, what fucking number did you just say?" accompanied by a mumbled agreement from Raleigh.

Stacker took the mic off Tendo at that moment. 

"Language, Ranger. The handshake is holding steady, you are cleared to begin drills." his tone left no room for any more questions.

~~~~~

Raleigh and Chuck played the information back and forth between themselves several times before it sunk in. 

Normally Raleigh tended to vocalise her thoughts even in the drift, but this was different. With Yancy, there was an ever so slight delay, almost like a syncing issue with a video, but this was instantaneous. 

She didn't feel the need to voice anything, by the time the thought was forming, Chuck was already responding in kind.

_ "98%?"  _ Raleigh felt the thought even before Chuck had finished. 

" _ That's insane like that has to be wrong _ " 

Raleigh took a moment to consider what the younger pilot was saying, " _ Or is it? _ " she replied, " _ I mean, has the drift ever felt this clear to you _ ?". 

The flare of recognition from Chuck said all it needed to for Raleigh, she knew this was something different, something special, and the flow of emotions and thoughts between the two pilots was a lot to take in.

The two rangers began running the drills as instructed, but there was a constant back and forth between the two of them, at times LOCCENT had to demand that the rangers spoke out loud so they could keep an eye on the drift and the two pilots would manage it for a time before slipping back into their own heads.

The drills were nothing new and certainly nothing exciting, and the two of them quickly found other thoughts to occupy their time while running through them. 

Instead of asking with words, they pulled at memories, just enough to give the idea of what they were hinting at, and they either showed glimpses of memory in answer or put it into words. They pulled light memories, easy questions with little weight behind them to begin, making sure not to pull a memory that was likely to cause either to fall out of alignment.

Chuck pulled a memory of Raleigh and Yancy conversing rapidly in French they couldn't have been more than 4/7 respectively. 

Raleigh smiled at the memory, " _ Mom was French, she made sure that all of us could speak it."  _

Chuck could feel the love but also the pain that came from thinking about her childhood.

" _ We lived in a lot of places, I had a knack for languages, Yancy not so much"  _

Chuck could feel the laugh across the drift, could also feel just how many languages the other ranger could speak. Raleigh could feel how impressed the Australian was, could also feel that the question wasn't asked out of mere curiosity.

They asked a lot about each others childhood, about their aspirations before the Kaiju appeared, Raleigh wanted to know how Chuck was so good with Jaegers, Chuck asked Raleigh what snow felt like. 

They managed to stay on even questions until Chuck stumbled upon the memory of Raleigh's first kiss, it had been with a classmate back in high school, Ella Johansson. Chuck didn't have to word the question that was beginning to form in his mind, his shock at the memory was enough. 

" _ Bi, Chuck, not gay, surely I've flirted with you enough over the years to make that clear. The PPDC was perfectly happy with Yance and I's image of the picture-perfect American siblings. I was strictly into dudes and Yancy had to be seen flirting with any girl pretty enough to warrant his attention"  _

Chuck was shocked to hear that they agreed to that. 

" _ While the truth was that Yancy has been with Tendo for 5 years now and I've never been one to listen to the rules." _

Raleigh felt that Chuck pulling that memory allowed free reign of some of the more delicate ones she'd caught a glimpse of before, she headed directly towards the memory of posters of the siblings and flashed them quickly across the drift. She could feel the embarrassment as clear as if it were her own.

" _ Come on, Rah-leigh. I was 15 what did you expect, you're up there on the tv looking like sex in a neatly packaged drive suit, of course, I was gonna have posters _ ." 

Raleigh struggled to suppress the snort that almost escaped from her. 

Instead of responding however she simply pulled the other memory that had grabbed her attention, this one involved her directly.

" _ Of fucking course, you had to bring up Manilla _ ." 

If Chuck's thoughts could have come across a growl this one probably would have, she could feel that the younger pilot was blushing. 

" _ So you really weren't pissed off with me flirting?"  _ came her question, dripping with feigned innocence. 

An image of Chuck flipping her off filled her mind and she smiled.

" _ You know for a fact that wasn't why I shut the door, every wet dream of mine had just come true and if I'd stood there one more second you'd have seen me sportin' a woody, didn't really fancy that going down, yeah _ ?" 

Raleigh could feel the blush creeping up to his ears at that point, and to make her co-pilot feel slightly better Raleigh pulled up one of her own memories, this time from after the first time they'd dropped with Striker Eureka, to show him that the feeling was mutual.

~~~~~

They ran drills for almost an hour before Stacker was satisfied that this wasn't a fluke, that one of the rangers wouldn't collapse or some system would explode, and declared that the Rangers could have the evening off and to be at breakfast for 0600.

Chuck and Raleigh were given the all-clear to disconnect from the handshake, and the moment both of them were free from the rigs and off comms, Raleigh moved closer into his personal space. 

They'd spent the last 10 minutes of the drift trying to establish whatever 'this' was, the tension that was thrumming under both of their skin. 

Neither one could deny that this was simply attraction anymore, and they were also inclined to agree that if they'd had the time that their budding friendship probably would have headed in this direction anyway.

The drift merely pulled these feelings to the forefront and with how strong the connection had been it was hard to ignore that there was something unique between the two of them, and Raleigh wasn't willing to meet her maker without exploring that in some more detail.

As Chuck made eye contact with the older ranger, Raleigh moved her lips close to his ear and whispered, "Give me 15 minutes and meet me in my room" 

Chuck's knees nearly went weak at the tone of Raleigh's voice and that was the moment he realised he was in trouble here. Raleigh turned away and began to head towards the prep room when Chuck grabbed her wrist and turned her back to face him.

Chuck was proud at how steady his voice was and he replied, equally as softly, "No, mine." 

Raleigh raised an eyebrow, but Chuck continued, "I have a double bed and quarters to myself." 

His voice was lower than normal, and he could see the way Raleigh's pupils' dilated in response. She merely nodded, swallowing around a lump in her throat and continued to head out of the conn-pod.


	13. Chapter 13

Chuck managed to get back into civvies and convince his father that the severity of this drift hangover was enough that he wanted to lie in a darkened room until he was needed in the morning and needed someone to watch Max. 

He was back in his quarters just before the 15-minute deadline Raleigh had given him expired. Chuck tried to concentrate on something other than the thrumming under his skin that he'd been experiencing since the drift. 

The Ghost Drift was an accepted part of being a pilot, but it was always a gradual thing, his first drift with his father, it had lasted barely 5 minutes.

Now however their Ghost Drift was almost a permanent feature, he could always tap into where his father was and how he was feeling or get glimpses of his thoughts, just as long as he was paying attention to it. 

After a drift, it was always harder to ignore, but after a few days, it slipped back into the subconscious unless he looked for it.

This was different though it was almost as if the drift hadn't completely severed, he could tell exactly what Raleigh was doing. She'd told her brother to go and see Tendo and Chuck could feel the exasperation from Raleigh at the look Yancy gave her. 

He could also feel the arousal just under her skin, like crackling electricity and he threw a couple of images down the link to see if she reacted, and could feel the blush rise to her cheeks, followed by the mental picture of some extremely foul gestures.

~~~~~

Raleigh knocked on the door exactly 15 minutes after leaving Striker's conn-pod. Chuck opened the door immediately and Raleigh could feel that he'd been waiting just on the other side for her to knock. 

She stood there for a few moments, dragging her eyes down the younger pilot and back up, making sure to exaggerate the movement so that Chuck could read it nice and clearly .That was all it took for Chuck's control to break and he took hold of the woman's hand and pulled her into the room, shutting the door behind them.

Raleigh was pressed up against the cold metal of the door, Chuck flush against her, one arm around her waist and the other on the back of her head. The kiss was soft and far more gentle than anything Raleigh had experienced for a long time.

Raleigh was used to picking up men from a less than reputable bar and usually she picked on type - tall, broad as hell and cocky as fuck, and 99% of the time those men just wanted to prove that they could take a Ranger any way they liked. 

Tended to be why she’d avoided any male hookups for a while.

But this was different, she could tell from the arousal coursing across the drift that Chuck was struggling to keep it slow and delicate, but that he also wanted to savour this and didn’t want to treat this as a one and done kind of thing. 

Before long, however, Chuck was teasing Raleigh’s mouth open and pressing gently in with his tongue. The kisses quickly turned dirty after that and Raleigh began to let out little moans that went straight to Chuck’s cock and pressed this close, Raleigh immediately noticed the pressure on her upper thigh.

He pulled away slightly to catch his breath

“You sure about this?” 

“I’ve never been more sure of anything kid.” 

Chuck laughed softly and proceeded to mouth along the edge of her jaw and down the side of her neck. The breathy pants and moans that it drew out of Raleigh, did things to Chuck that he wouldn’t readily admit.

Raleigh’s legs were gradually turning to jelly, and Chuck feeling this across the Ghost Drift, hoisted her up. She took the opportunity to wrap her legs around his waist, allowing her to gain some much-needed friction, causing both of them to let out gasps of pleasure.

He walked them both backward until her ass was perched on the edge of his desk. Chuck pulled away, and it took all of Raleigh’s self-control not to keen at the loss of contact. 

But Chuck was using his newly free arms to grab the edge of his t-shirt and lift it over his head, throwing it off into the far corner of the room. She took a moment to catch her breath and just appreciate the image before her, there was seeing him with a t-shirt on - no matter how tight - and there was seeing him shirtless. 

Chuck stood there allowing Raleigh’s gaze to rake over him, he tried not to blush but could feel his ears and neck heating. Raleigh, not one to be outdone, removed her own shirt, which left her top half completely naked. Chuck let out a low whistle, causing Raleigh’s already lightly flushed skin, to go bright red with her blush. 

He stepped closer fitting between her legs and gently trailing his fingers down the scars on her left shoulder. Raleigh dipped her head not making eye contact, a light gasp slipped out as his touch tickled sensitive skin.

Chuck simply grinned before pressing his mouth back against hers and bringing his hand up to brush against her nipple. She moaned and arched her back, bringing her crotch flush with Chuck’s, causing him to let out a soft moan against her lips.

That sound made her stomach clench and she could feel the throbbing sensation deep within her. Raleigh lifted her hips up, using one of her hands to shove her trousers down past her thighs and then slid them off her legs, dropping them to the floor. 

Chuck bit his lower lip at the sight of the dark, damp patch on her underwear, where she was soaking straight through, and just the sight of him doing that made her clench.

Chuck stepped back, pulling his own pants down and Raleigh was impressed to see that he'd apparently gone commando, she couldn’t resist licking her own lips at the sight. 

He moved into Raleigh's space, bringing his lips back against hers, and she was far too focused on the clever things the man was doing with his tongue, to notice him routing around in the top drawer of the desk.

When Chuck had found what he was looking for, he put the wrapper between his teeth, before picking up Raleigh again, who went willingly and moving them over to his bed.

~~~~~

Raleigh slumped back into the pillow, her chest moving rapidly from her heavy breathing. Chuck followed quickly after collapsing onto the bed next to her, close enough that their sides were touching. Raleigh tangled her leg between his own and he smiled at the contact, placing one arm behind her shoulders and pulling her into his chest.

"Fuck, Rals. That was," Chuck seemed lost for words. 

Raleigh tilted her head to look at the Australian. She had to hold in a laugh at the expression on the younger pilots face. 

"I'd probably go with spectacular, but I'm worried if I inflate your ego much further we won't be able to get you back in a conn-pod."

Chuck pinched her arm at that causing her to let out an involuntary squeak and earning him a glare, but there was no heat behind it. Raleigh moved so she was half lying across him, her head resting on his chest, Chuck began running his fingers along her spine, stopping at the ink at the base of her back.

Raleigh had a few tattoos littered across her skin, she had text across her ribs and a fairly large image of a ribcage on her thigh, but the one that had captured his attention was that of Gipsy Dangers logo.

"Didn't take you for someone with tattoos," Chuck stated, keeping his voice soft. 

Raleigh let out a laugh. 

"Knew that would come up sooner or later, thought I told you in the drift, me and Yance are meant to be poster children." 

Chuck smirked at her tone. 

"Of course you wouldn't assume I had tattoos from that."

"Gipsy's logo though?" the hint of mockery in his voice made her lift herself up to look directly into his eyes. 

"Stones and glasshouses spring to mind, kid." Raleigh made sure the teasing in her voice was clear, as she ran her fingers along his forearm where Striker's logo was proudly displayed.

"Arse antlers, Ray? Can't exactly say it's comparable" 

The Ghost Drift helpfully supplied the translation for Raleigh, and she grinned at the nickname from the younger pilot.

"I was 18," she laughed slightly, "We'd just taken down Yamarashi. We were high off the drift and Yancy had decided to go out and buy some really cheap, extremely shitty beer. I swear neither of us had drunk before by how quickly it took for us to get plastered, one thing lead to another and Yancy decided that getting Gipsy's logo tattooed was a brilliant idea."

Raleigh was smiling broadly at the memory and Chuck couldn't help but marvel at how beautiful she looked like this - her long blonde hair was pointing in all sorts of directions, the blue of her eyes had darkened considerably, highlighting the gold that circled her pupils, her golden skin was lightly flushed. 

Honestly, if he'd died at that moment he probably wouldn't be upset at all.

"So we went out right there and then, found a tattoo shop in Anchorage that was open at that ungodly hour and each got one. If it makes you feel any better, Yancy has it right on his chest and refuses to take his top off in case people find out." 

The smirk that appeared on Chuck's face at this information would have concerned Raleigh if she didn't think her brother could use taking down a peg or two. Chuck continued tracing his hands along her skin, coming to rest on the script against her ribs. 

"What does this say then?"

Chuck knew that if he focused enough he could probably translate French using the Ghost Drift. However, he wasn't exactly on top form mental capacity wise currently, what with Raleigh gently mouthing her way along his neck, stopping at his collarbone to suck a mark into the skin, matching the ones he'd left on her earlier.

"Le courage n'est pas l'absence de peur, mais plutôt le jugement que quelque chose d'autre est plus important que la peur" 

Raleigh spoke the words softly against Chuck's skin and didn't miss the way his eyes darkened at them - she was filing that information away for later.

"It's a loose translation of the quote ‘Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear’, I got it after Knifehead." 

Her voice was so quiet Chuck barely caught the last part. He placed one hand under her chin pulling her eyes up to meet his.

"I'm sorry." the sincerity in his voice made Raleigh's heart hurt.

She captured his lips with her own, before pulling back again, "Don't be."


	14. Chapter 14

Raleigh awoke, her breathing rapid and heavy, the nightmare that returned often, loosening its grip. She tried to make little noise, so as not to disturb the sleeping ranger currently curled against her back. 

She didn't succeed however, not only was Chuck trained to wake at the slightest disturbance but the Ghost Drift was still immensely strong between the two of them. His arm that was draped across her waist tightened slightly. 

"Raleigh?" Chuck's voice was soft as he whispered against her shoulder, but she could hear the concern in it.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you" Raleigh whispered back, turning her head to look at him.

"No need to apologise, nightmares?" 

Raleigh turned to face him, she just nodded slightly.

"You want to talk about it?" 

Chuck asked his lips pressed against her forehead, she shook her head in response, "Not yet." 

He pulled the older ranger tighter against his chest and just held her there until she fell back asleep.

~~~~~ 

Chuck woke to the sound of his shower running, and it took him a few moments to realise that Raleigh wasn't in bed with him. He looked around to see that his clock read 05:30, he was too well trained to curl back into the covers and go back to sleep, even if it was high up on his list of priorities.

He sat up, the sheets wrapped loosely around his waist and was just considering heading into the bathroom and trying to convince Raleigh that there was enough time for shower sex, when he felt Raleigh catch that line of thought through the drift and the shower immediately cut off.

Raleigh walked out of the bathroom a few moments later, wrapped in one of Chuck's towels, the other wrapped around her hair, which Chuck belatedly realised was the larger of the two.

It gave him a full look at the tattoo on her thigh, a ribcage with bright flowers on it, he could also see the multitude of marks he'd left there, and on her collarbone, ribs and the rest of her skin, last night.

Raleigh could tell exactly what was going through his mind as she walked over to him, her customary swagger in full effect, and sat on his knee, causing the towel to rise up further over the curve of her ass.

Chuck's morning wood, was quickly becoming a full-on erection and Raleigh grinned widely, before bringing her lips down so they were almost touching his. 

"You have half an hour to get ready, darlin'. Best get on with it" 

And just as quickly as she’d sat down, she was standing back up and moving over to her discarded clothing from the night before.

"Oi, Becket!" his squawk of indignation made Raleigh laugh. 

"That's just playing dirty.”

She just flashed him a bright smile, as she dropped the towel onto the floor and began pulling her trousers on. Chuck started walking over to her but she just pointed towards the bathroom. 

"0600 for breakfast remember."

He flipped Raleigh the bird, and she looked away trying to locate her shirt. Chuck took that moment to walk towards his dresser and pull out one of his clean t-shirts.

"Rals, you can wear this.”

He threw it over to her, where she caught it out of mid-air. Raleigh caught it before pulling the t-shirt over her head. 

It was clearly too big for her, but she would have been able to pass it off as one of Yancy's old tops, aside from the fact that Striker's logo was emblazoned across the back.

She shot Chuck a look, "This how you want to admit to this?" 

Her eyebrow was raised while she waited for his response. 

"I mean you're my co-pilot now only right you have the correct outfit." he winked. 

"Also, odds on Yancy has already figured it and told Tendo, so we have like 2 hours till he's awake and telling everyone else so might as well," came his response with a shrug.

Raleigh gave him a more pointed look. 

"That and Raleigh, this isn't a one-time thing for me, I can tell it's not for you either." 

He walked towards her, still completely naked. 

"Who gives a shit what the peanut gallery think, eh?" 

Raleigh met him halfway giving him a deep kiss. 

"Seriously though, 0600 mess hall." she laughed giving him a gentle shove on his chest 

"I'll see you there ok?"

Raleigh gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before turning around and disappearing through the door. Chuck couldn't stop the grin that spread across his face or the warm feeling that filled his chest.


	15. Chapter 15

Raleigh was in the mess hall, enjoying a nice cup of coffee, for a grand total of 5 minutes before chaos descended upon her. 

Yancy dropped into the seat opposite her, grabbed her mug and took a long sip, draining it, before shoving it back towards her. She gave him a dirty look, but his head was already pillowed on his arms and he was attempting to get some more sleep. 

To her surprise, Tendo slumped down into the seat next to her brother, with three large mugs of coffee, passing one over to Raleigh before setting the other two in front of him and Yancy.

"Thought he'd probably have stolen yours," Tendo said across the top of his mug, Raleigh smiled at him. 

"Thanks, he's a shit," she replied directing a swift but mostly harmless kick to Yancy's shin that caused him to jolt upright with a shot of pain, "why the hell are you up?". 

Tendo grinned back at her, "Stacker wants system checks running on the Jaegers." 

Raleigh nodded in response, as Mako slipped into the seat on her left, holding a cup of what Raleigh assumed was green tea from the smell of it. Tendo gave Raleigh a pointed look. 

"New outfit, Baby Becket?", gesturing vaguely at her t-shirt. 

Raleigh didn't even attempt to feign innocence, and that was the moment Yancy decided that sleep was far less interesting than whatever was about to occur. Raleigh merely raised her eyebrows at the two men before going back to drinking her coffee.

Yancy turned to his boyfriend, his hand outstretched. 

"Pay up babe", a smug look plastered onto his face. 

The look that Tendo gave her brother was enough to curdle milk, "You're a dirty cheat, Becket Boy."

Raleigh looked to Tendo waiting for an explanation, he gave Yancy a pointed look who just shook his head in warning. Raleigh focused her attention on her brother at that moment. 

"You seriously made a bet about something to do with me and Chuck?" 

The tone of her voice told Yancy that she already knew the answer, she just wanted to know if he was brave, or stupid enough to actually admit it. Yancy suddenly became very interested in his cup of coffee and Raleigh was about to deliver a second kick to his shin, when Tendo answered for him. 

"He may have bet me $20 that you and Chuck would be sharing a bed last night."

Raleigh had to credit the older man, didn't stop her from delivering said kick, she was grateful she wore her standard-issue steel-toe boots as Yancy yelped, pulling his shin up and away fast enough that he toppled backwards off the bench onto the floor.

A sharp laugh broke out across the mess hall from behind Raleigh, and a warm weight appeared at her shoulder as Chuck clambered into the seat next to her, carrying two plates of bacon and eggs, one of which he deposited in front of her. 

She was about to protest but he shot her a look that clearly told her he knew she wouldn't have eaten and she could use the energy.

"I totally forgive you for earlier," Chuck said to Raleigh, his smile ridiculously wide. 

He grabbed her mug taking a long sip, but almost immediately pulled a face, accompanied by a retching noise.

"What the fuck is that, Ray?" Chuck said glaring at the offending beverage, pointedly ignoring Yancy's noises of complaint as he pulled himself up off the floor.

"Aww, I'm sorry. I forgot you can't drink coffee without a metric-fuck-ton of sugar and milk in it" 

The look Raleigh shot back at the youngest pilot was anything but sympathetic.

"I mean, fuck you, but more importantly, you don't normally drink coffee with breakfast, so 'scuse me for expecting tea in that mug." 

Just over a week ago that tone from Chuck would have resulted in Raleigh's fist colliding with his face, but she could hear the underlying playful teasing, and she could tell that there wasn't anything behind the words.

Yancy was still mumbling from across the table, but Tendo was shushing him lightly to try and keep a track of the conversation unfolding between the two new co-pilots. Mako meanwhile was trying to distance herself from the inevitable fallout that was coming by gradually edging further down the bench.

"I do drink coffee with breakfast if it's before 7 and I didn't get much sleep the night before," Raleigh replied, not considering the ramifications that the sentence would have.

A chorus of "Ooooooooo" came from across the table. 

The look that Raleigh shot the two older men was one that would have made most cower in fear, but the effect was lessened by the blush that had spread across Chuck's face.

"Seriously, Rals?" Yancy's voice was filled with barely concealed judgment, mixed with a hint of condescension. 

Even Tendo began shifting further down the bench at that, he knew better than to antagonise Raleigh if she didn't want to talk about it. That and she was still ghosting with Chuck which meant her normal, fairly easy-going manner, was tinted with Chuck's punch first, think never.

"I had a nightmare." 

Raleigh's voice was even but the threat behind the words was evident. Her and Yancy rarely argued, they had very few topics that were out of bounds - Jaz and their father being the key ones. 

Raleigh wasn't shy, she was open about her sex life, but this was different and Yancy could tell at that moment that this wasn't something to push her on. He couldn't help but think that it had something to do with the ginger, Australian sat next to her. 

He could feel, through the extremely weak ghost drift that still lingered between the siblings, if he focused on it, that she didn't want to push him into anything that he wasn't entirely ready for, including people knowing that something more might be going on between the two of them.

Tendo guessed that not only had some of Chuck's personality leeched a little into Raleigh but vice-versa as the ranger took that moment to divert Raleigh's attention quickly away from her brother.

"I can't get that god-awful taste out of my mouth,  _ Rah-leigh. _ "

Chuck made extra effort to drag out her name just to bring her full attention back to him. She looked at him like an exasperated parent would look at a toddler. 

"Then go and put something in your mouth to remove the taste."

The answering grin from Chuck had Raleigh nervous for a moment, but she could feel what he was thinking over the Ghost Drift. He knew exactly why she'd shut Tendo and Yancy down, she wanted to give Chuck the opportunity to decide what this thing was between them.

This was Chuck deciding.

"Or I could just do this," he replied confidently before placing a hand on Raleigh's chin and turning her head so he could kiss her deeply. 

The voices on the tables nearest them fell silent, and as Chuck pulled away, leaving Raleigh slightly breathless, he grinned back at his co-pilot.

"I could actually cope with black coffee if it tasted like that."

The twin looks of shock from Tendo and Yancy across the table were enough to cause both Raleigh and Chuck to burst out laughing. Mako decided that it was probably safe enough to move back closer to the group and giving the two rangers a fond look.

Yancy was still staring, mouth wide open, trying to think of a response, when Herc came walking up to the table, Max in tow. He noticed the arm that Chuck had wrapped around Raleigh’s back and merely raised a questioning eyebrow at his son before taking a seat next to Yancy.

“Oi, you two.” Herc said directing his attention towards the still shocked pair, “close your mouths or you’ll stick like that.” 

He started eating a piece of toast before adding, “Oh, Tendo, Stacker wants you in LOCCENT, as soon as.”

Tendo practically inhaled his coffee at that point, before standing up from the bench, giving Yancy a quick kiss and leaving to LOCCENT via the coffee machine.

~~~~~

Raleigh had started a conversation with Mako regarding the fight in the harbour and how they could have improved and tried to focus on her breakfast. 

Or more accurately, keeping Yancy away from her breakfast, as every time she took her eyes off of it or him for a moment, his hand was sneaking across the table trying to steal some bacon, and she normally didn't share food at the best of times, never mind when Yancy had been a dick.

Chuck was happily eating away at his food, while Max had taken a seat between his feet and was grinning up at him, earning him various treats from Chuck's plate. Raleigh's attention lapsed again as Herc began to ask her a question when Yancy's hand shot across the table and grabbed one of the rashers. 

Without even thinking Raleigh moved her hand and stabbed the fork she'd been holding - fairly gently - into the back of his hand.

"Fucking hell, Raleigh." 

Yancy's voice was several octaves higher from the pain as he dropped the bacon and pulled his hand back to cradle it against his chest. Raleigh felt guilty for a few moments until she caught sight of the hand and decided no blood had been drawn, added to the fact that he had been a bit of a prick so far this morning.

Mako reached out across the table and checked Yancy's hand over for a few moments seeming to agree with Raleigh's assessment before letting it go and returning her attention to her tea, seemingly uninterested by the siblings' argument, but the amusement was clear in the gleam of her eyes.

Chuck and Herc both turned towards the younger Becket, shock written on their faces. Raleigh shrugged at them, even as her brother shot her a dirty look and continued to cradle his hand.

"Is this level of violence normal between you two?" Herc asked curiosity and relative certainty due to his seniority that Raleigh probably wouldn't stab him as well, overriding the fear in asking. 

Chuck raised an eyebrow towards his new co-pilot, she could feel the surprise at her outburst across the ghost drift, so she just shot a few images across showing the two siblings growing up. 

Yancy spoke up first. 

"She's always been the violent one, probably why these two get along so well." gesturing between Raleigh and Chuck. 

Raleigh stuck her tongue out at her older brother. 

"You try growing up with an older brother who eats everything before you even get a look in, and being the middle child. You tend to use violence to make a point" 

The look she shot Yancy told him that this was her making one of those points. Herc laughed at that. 

"Wouldn't know about the middle child part, but I certainly know what it's like to have to fight for your share of food with your sibling." 

The fond smile that crossed Herc's face at the happier memories didn't last long, but he didn't seem saddened by the line of thought.

"I've honestly never been more terrified of you." 

Chuck was grinning at his co-pilot which lessened the effect of his words, however, the shark-like grin Raleigh shot back at him was certainly enough to inspire a healthy dose of fear followed by arousal in the younger ranger.

Yancy looked like he was about to say something when Herc cleared his throat pointedly, the four rangers all looked to him, immediately snapping to attention at his expression.

"As much fun as this is, Stacker is expecting me to put you four through your paces for the next few hours while he and Tendo get some sims set up. So 15 minutes and in the kwoon, yeah?" 

While Herc didn't possess the natural command that Stacker exuded, his friendly tone always made his orders seem like a suggestion, but left no room for an actual choice. Herc got up and headed away from the table, indicating that the time for relaxing was more than over. 

Raleigh pushed her half-finished plate towards her brother, before leaning across the table to ruffle his hair, obviously done with whatever grudge she'd been holding. Yancy attempted to swat his sister away with one hand while using the other to shovel her leftovers into his mouth.

Mako watched her co-pilot and friend with a fond smile before standing up and getting ready to leave the table. Raleigh climbed back over the bench as well giving Chuck a light kiss before following after the younger woman, leaving Chuck and Yancy alone at the table.

Chuck had always assumed that Raleigh was the more volatile of the siblings, just from her naturally impulsive nature, however having seen her memories through the drift, Chuck now knew how mistaken he was. 

Yancy was very much the attack first, allow Raleigh to think later, sort of pilot and that translated to the outside of the conn-pod as well. Having Yancy stare at him with a calculating look was disconcerting, to say the least, terrifying was probably more accurate. 

The look was every terrifying glare Mako had ever shot him, mixed with the cool rage that Raleigh wielded so well, all wrapped up in Yancy's fiery temper and topped with that dick-ish air that the older ranger only seemed to direct at Chuck.

Chuck tried hard not to break eye contact with Yancy, and couldn't stop himself from fidgeting under the glare. The older pilot sat silently for a good minute before Chuck broke. 

"Mate, seriously either get on with it or I'm gonna start wishing for a kaiju alarm."

Yancy's expression turned almost feral, as the grin that crept onto his face promised Chuck all sorts of pain. 

"Just wanted to make you sweat a little, Baby Hansen." 

Yancy pushed his mostly empty plate away at that, leaning forward on his elbows across the table.

"I can see from the way that you look at her that this isn't a quick fling." 

Yancy's voice was low and laced with steel. 

"But she's my little sister, and if you hurt her, I swear to god, staring Leatherback down will be practically soothing compared to what will come your way."

Chuck was tempted to throw back a snarky comment but Yancy's expression told him that he wasn't messing around, and with that, the older man got up from the table and turned to leave. 

As he was walking away Yancy looked back at the Australian, who seemed torn between running and mouthing off, and threw a parting shot. 

"That and I'm sure Sasha wouldn't leave much to clean up afterwards if you catch my drift."

Yancy took great delight in watching the colour drain from Chuck's face and continued walking out of the mess hall and towards the kwoon.


End file.
